I know reading about troubled waters in thes quest can get to thinking wrong.
The following is my opinion as a result of my own experiences with insincere FSU women and observations of experiences of other men. I do not claim to know everything and do not mean for this post to construe such. My hope is that this may be of help to those that are just getting into this.
So, about scamming or insincerities, how do you know this is what you are dealing with before you end up out big bucks, a lot of time and a big heart ache - by simply observing without emotion the scenery as you walk down this nature path to the destination of asking this lovely lady to marry you if that is something that you might desire once you know her more.
I have read so many times where men will say after they find that the lady is not sincere - the red flags were there. They will tell you "I can see it now that it has all gone sour". No, they saw them then also, they just now remember. If could not remember them, then they did not see (acknowledge)them. So, if one gets hindsight, they saw them for sure - just simply choose to ignore them at the time.
You see Sherlock, this is a scenario of addition whereby one event means nothing, it is only the addition of others that it all starts to bring meaning to that which prior did not. Now here is the big caution - do not get paranoid that you are being scammed - if you do, you will over react to something that means nothing conjuring up in your mind how the lady is not sincere - she is scamming you. I did this, and let me tell you that there were some good red flags - however it turned out she was not such. As it turned out she was not the one for me but, we are good friends.
You have to do all of this without emotion or as little as you personally are capable of. I am not talking about not being emotional/responsive to your woman - I am talking about reacting to what seems like a red flag. Sit back proceed and observe.
The next thing that I have noticed is that guys will be going along and all of a sudden, a bigger expense issue comes up where they will feel as though they should send money for this or that, purchase a ticket in her name that she could cancel and use to travel somewhere else without you etc. and then they start to worry. So, we have had the simple advice to not send money other than help for e-mail if needed. The scammers will not tolerate you not sending money or presents most usually, so you wait them out. But sometimes you do need to invest such as that plane ticket if needed.
Now if you had more money than God, you would not be worrying about the money. So, you need to understand your risk tolerance for this investment. Some will need conservative investments, whereas others are not so concerned. Anytime you invest money you must say to yourself - "If I lose this money I accept this here and now before I invest it in this venture." If you can not say that - Do not send or invest the funds plain and simple - none of this moaning and bittttching after. This is the real world with courting any woman whether she be American, Russian or Ukrainian. Women are expensive period. Get used to it.
So, lets say you see what might be a red flag, just take note, if so inclined write it down. If something else catches your attention that you do not feel totally comfortable with but you are not sure - just think about it, why are you feeling this way, acknowledge that it might be paranoia but write down what it is or set it to memory. A scammer will always become evident in time - the longer that takes the greater the loss on your part of which everyone will place value of loss of the three categories of priority relative to lost time, heartache, or financial loss.
You will do better with all this if financial loss can be the last on this priority list of concerns. Even when you are starting to question her or starting to wonder somewhere in the back of your head, always act as though you trust your lady, never let on, always be romantic. Besides being the correct thing to do with a lady you are courting on the more practical side - this tactic makes military sense because if she is a scammer or insincere she will not be warned of your concern and will be more free to reveal her true nature thinking you are not wary.
Now, guys like KenC to my knowledge never had to deal with this. He found a sincere lady up front it was just about taking the proper steps to make it happen. Not everyone is going to be as lucky as he was plain and simple.
If you are reasonable about all of this and simply proceed with caution and common sense you will be less likely to a self sabotaging mental state of paranoia.
